State Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha says he can serve effectively in the Unicameral even as he runs for governor.

Krist says he understands the skepticism.

“I think there’s going to be a natural perception that everything I say is going to be related to my campaign,” Krist tells Nebraska Radio Network during an interview at his Capitol office.

Yet, Krist says he’s following a model provided by U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer who campaigned for her current seat while serving in the legislature. Krist says he remembers seeing Fischer working late into the night at the Capitol while her opponents were giving speeches at various places across the state.

Krist points out he has legislation this session which is weighty and that he cares a great deal about, especially legislation attempting to address problems within the Department of Correctional Services. He says he worked hard to prepare himself for the session well in advance to aid in his balancing act of serving while campaigning.

Krist, a Republican who has been in the Unicameral 10 years, has chosen to run as an independent candidate for governor, avoiding a primary showdown with Gov. Pete Ricketts. Krist criticizes the governor for bringing members of his campaign staff into his administration and says the governor listens too closely to them while failing to listen to others.

Krist says he will continue to attack what he perceives as inconsistencies with the Ricketts
Administration during speeches from the floor of the legislature.

“Now, that’s not to say as I said that there’s some perception that I will be constantly campaigning when I’m on the mic. I can’t help that. But, I’ll do what I need to do to do my job as a state senator,” Krist says.

Krist says as governor he will work to get a handle on funding education to reduce its reliance on the property tax, will work to reform Corrections, and will listen to the people.

Gov. Pete Ricketts must convince state lawmakers his tax cut package makes more sense than a much larger one proposed by a state senator.

Ricketts proposes converting money in the state property tax relief fund into credits to reduce property taxes as well as lower the state individual and corporate income tax. He announced the plan during his State of the State address to lawmakers Wednesday.

Ricketts remains skeptical of a $1 billion tax cut plan being floated in the Unicameral.

“If we were to pass a bill that has a $1.1 billion impact on our budget, that’s 25% of our budget. That will have dramatic results,” Ricketts says, adding that could lead to deep budget cuts, perhaps even to school funding. The governor suggests it also could lead to an increase in other taxes to offset the loss of revenue.

Legislative Bill 829 would provide a 50% income tax refund or credit for each dollar of property taxes which go toward the funding of public schools. Typically, 60% of the property taxes paid in Nebraska fund public education.

Erdman emphasizes his proposal would not affect local governmental funding. It would be the obligation of the state to make up the $1 billion cost of his proposal. And Erdman favors the legislature making budget cuts to pay for it.

If the Unicameral balks at his plan, Erdman plans to take it to a vote of the people in November.

Ricketts insists lawmakers can have more certainty working with him rather than risking a ballot vote. The governor also points out he has a proposal to pay for his plan.

“What we have proposed actually lays out a framework for how we can actually deliver it,” Ricketts says. “It isn’t just promising something, it’s actually showing how we can actually deliver on it as well.”

Ricketts proposes using money already allocated to the Property Tax Credit Relief Fund to provide $200 million in property tax relief for agricultural and residential property as well as $40 million in cuts to individual and corporate income taxes. Cuts to the income tax would take place only if state revenue increases sufficiently. The proposal also calls for $5 million annually to be used for workforce development.

It appeared those pushing to repeal the state mandatory motorcycle helmet law finally had the votes, but once again they fell short.

Last year, supporters fell one vote short of the total they needed to overcome a filibuster. This year, they fell three votes short.

“It’s very disappointing to be that close and I’m sad for the motorcycle riders across the state,” Sen. John Lowe, Sr. of Kearney tells reporters.

Lowe sponsored Legislative Bill 368, which would have lifted the requirement that motorcycle riders 21 and older wear helmets. It would have kept the requirement in place for those under 21. Children under six would have been prohibited from riding a motorcycle.

Lowe says a count on Monday indicated he had the 33 votes needed to end a filibuster and go to a vote on the bill. A year ago, Lowe got 32 votes with a senator who supported the measure absent. Lowe convinced Speaker Jim Scheer to allow the bill to return for further debate Wednesday afternoon. But, when the vote on cloture took place, 30 senators voted to end debate, 15 voted to uphold the filibuster, and three senators abstained.

Sen. Robert Hilkemann of Omaha says he wasn’t sure he had the votes to uphold his filibuster until the tally was actually taken.

“Well, I wasn’t sure where that vote count was to be honest with you and I knew it was going to be very close,” Hilkemann says.

The issue might well be dead this session, but it will return, according to Lowe.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, along with First Lady Susanne Shore, prepare to enter the legislative chamber prior to the State of the State address.

Gov. Pete Ricketts called closing a state budget gap the top priority of this legislative session and said existing tax credits can be used to lower property and income taxes.

Ricketts, during his State of the State address, told lawmakers his administration has already taken steps to curb spending in light of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board’s projection that state revenue will fall $173 million short of expectations.

“While our state’s economy once again has the wind at its back, our revenues continue to fall short of the board’s expectations,” Ricketts stated during the speech in the legislative chamber. “We’ve been preparing for this. We’ve reduced our state workforce by 500, or about 4%. We’ve eliminated 1,500 open positions. In preparation for budget cuts, we reduced agency allotments by about 2% over the last two quarters of the year.”

While much of government would be cut under the governor’s budget proposal, some segments would be spared.

“I am proposing across-the-board reductions of 2% in this fiscal year and 4% in the next,” Ricketts stated. “Consistent with our work, I have designated priorities for funding in the budget, like K-through-12 education, Corrections, and services to help the developmentally disabled,”

The governor recommends the Unicameral make $103.2 million in cuts to the state General Fund, $77.1 million coming from the across-the-board cuts. His mid-biennium budget adjustment recommendations include a transfer of $108 million from cash reserves and $21.7 million from various cash fund balances.

The budget recommendations include a request to increase child welfare programs by $54.8 million. The governor said he will form a task force to investigate why child welfare program costs have increased.

Despite the budget woes, Ricketts proposes a $240 million tax cut package; a revamp of sorts from the package which failed to clear a filibuster last year.

“Cutting and reforming taxes is key to growing Nebraska,” Ricketts stated. “Over the years, together, we have done the hard work needed to hold the line on taxes, but Nebraskans need and expect more.”

Ricketts proposes using money already allocated to the Property Tax Credit Relief Fund to provide $200 million in property tax relief for agricultural and residential property as well as $40 million in cuts to individual and corporate income taxes.

“Tax relief will need to be a bipartisan effort,” Ricketts said to applause. “And it will be something that we all do together for the good of our entire state. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get the job done.”

AUDIO: Gov. Pete Ricketts delivers the annual State of the State address to the Unicameral. [30 minutes]

Sen. Steve Erdman addresses the media last year as he announces work to cut property taxes.

A state senator says he will press for the Unicameral to cut property taxes this session and, if they don’t, he’s ready to take the issue directly to the people.

Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard proposes a 30% cut in property taxes.

“We’ve been talking in the state of Nebraska about property tax relief for 40 years and we’ve never gotten to this point of discussion about property taxes and so it’s good to see that we are having a discussion, but we have got to do something about it,” Erdman tells Nebraska Radio Network.

Legislative Bill 829 would provide a 50% income tax refund or credit for each dollar of property taxes which go toward the funding of public schools. Typically, 60% of the property taxes paid in Nebraska fund public education.

Erdman emphasizes his proposal would not affect local governmental funding. It would be the obligation of the state to make up the $1 billion cost of his proposal. And Erdman favors the legislature making budget cuts to pay for it.

Erdman has been working the floor during the first few days of this new legislative session, speaking with fellow senators about his proposal. He says the feedback has been positive so far. He says his proposal resonates with rural senators who represent farmers and ranchers who have had to pay hefty property tax bills, despite a drastic drop in income. It also has struck a chord with his urban colleagues, according to Erdman, likely because of increase property assessments.

He might be lobbying fellow senators about the proposal, but Erdman doesn’t really expect the Unicameral to pass it. So, Erdman is prepared to push a petition to place the issue on the November ballot.

“It doesn’t look like in a 60-day session that we’ll accomplish much in this regard, that’s why we’re going to do the petition drive,” Erdman says. “We’ll let the people decide.”

Washington State (7-5), now winners in six of its last seven games, led by as many 20 points in the first half, and weathered a late Nebraska run to win 73-61 on Friday afternoon in front of 4,404 fans at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

“Obviously, it’s not fun to lose on our home court, and we want to be able to protect home court, but some positive things out of today is we had an incredible fan base that came out on a Friday afternoon to support us,” Nebraska head coach Amy Williams said.

“This game, ultimately, will be good for our team. I thought Washington State came in and they were prepared, and they took some things away from us, and exposed some areas that we need to continue to improve, and I think that will be really good for us heading into Big Ten play.”

The Cougars’ ball pressure seemed to bother the Huskers, especially early on. Washington State scored on three Nebraska turnovers and took advantage of NU’s 2-of-12 shooting start from the floor to take a 23-12 lead by the end of the first quarter.

“Their pressure really bothered us,” Williams said. “So, being able to handle that a little bit better and understand that we’ve got to continue to play with a little bit of pace, and get ourselves in the right positions, even when we’re playing against teams that are going to pressure…they were really icing the ball screens very hard, and they denied our trail post and our transition game, and we didn’t handle that very well. They just pushed out of spacing with their defensive pressure.”

The Cougars led 47-27 with 8:37 to go in the 3rd quarter, but the Huskers went on a 9-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 47-38 less than four minutes later.

Nebraska pulled to within 64-57 with 8:28 to play after a three-pointer from sophomore guard Hannah Whitish, but Washington State outscored the Huskers 9-4 for the remainder of the game.

Washington State was led in scoring by junior guard Alexys Swedlund and sophomore forward Borislava Hristova, who each had 16 points. Junior forward Louise Brown finished with 12.

The Cougars outscored the Huskers 38-24 in the paint.

“I think there was times when we didn’t rebound very well, and they were able to get offensive rebounds,” Whitish said. “We talk about offensive rebounds being energy pills. They help give you energy and momentum. It’s the opposite when (the opponent) gets them, and I think that took the wind out our sails a little bit.”

Washington State beat Nebraska on offensive boards 17-13 and outscored the Huskers 21-12 on second chance points.

Whitish finished with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting. She also had six assists, three steals and three rebounds.

Even with her and senior guard Emily Wood making clutch shots, Nebraska’s run wasn’t ever sustainable enough to take a lead.

“I think there were some plays there where we really had to scratch and fight and claw so hard to kind of get back into the game after digging ourselves a hole,” Williams said. “Not trying to make excuses or anything, but I think that when you’ve played three games in eight days, and we’re playing a little bit shallow just with some kids still coming off of injuries, and we’re just not quite as deep and healthy as we want to be. We had a lot of people who were playing fatigued there in the second half.”

Wood certainly wasn’t feeling fatigued. She finished with a career-high 19 points on a career-high five three-pointers made.

The Salina, KS native was sharp all around, making 7-of-10 shots from the field. Even though it was a losing effort, it was a fun way for her to end the non-conference slate.

“I would tell anyone that I would rather score no points and win the game,” Wood said. “But, it was fun to be able to shoot it well, especially here at home.”

Friday’s loss was Nebraska’s second-largest margin of defeat this season, but Williams felt like it gave her team an example of how physical games can be once Big Ten play begins.

“We just really feel like today’s game can help prep us (for the Big Ten),” Williams said. “I really think that it had that feel. Just a competitive game that just felt kind of almost like a conference game. That’s going to be an eye opener for some of our young players to kind of get us ready and prepared for what’s coming.”

Freshman guard Taylor Kissinger was out for the sixth straight game with a knee injury.

The Minden, NE native had been averaging 14 points through the first seven contests. There’s still no exact timetable for her return.

Nebraska has six days off, and will stay at home when they take on Ohio State (11-2) on Thursday, Dec. 22. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

You can contact Tommy at 402-840-5226, or you can follow him on Twitter @Tommy_KLIN.

Gov. Pete Ricketts doesn’t believe Republican Roy Moore’s loss in an Alabama special Senate election gives any indication of how elections will go in Nebraska next year.

Ricketts sees the character flaws of Moore as making the difference in his loss to Democrat Doug Jones in the special United States Senate election.

“Both parties need to elect people of good character and the people of Alabama made their choice with regard to who they wanted to represent them, and I certainly respect their ability to make that decision,” Ricketts tells reporters when asked about the results of the election.

No Republican had lost in Alabama in decades.

Moore, a controversial candidate to begin with, won the Republican primary to seek to replace Jeff Sessions, who left the Senate to become Attorney General.

Moore lost to Jones by around 20,000 votes and has yet to concede the race. Allegations of sexual misconduct dogged Moore throughout the special election. Reports surfaced that he had attempted to date several teen-agers while in his 30s, some as young as 14. A couple of woman accused Moore of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault.

Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill announced this week a count of military ballots and provisional ballots have failed to close the gap. Alabama is scheduled to certify the election results after Christmas.

Moore has threatened to demand a recount of the December 12th election, but the margin is not close enough to trigger an automatic recount. If there is to be a recount, the Moore campaign will have to pay for it.

Nearly 23,000 Alabama voters wrote in names rather than vote for either candidate.

Some have suggested since that a Democratic win in a deep red state in the South indicates Democrats can win in Nebraska next year.

Ricketts says the candidates and issues in Alabama aren’t the same as the candidates and issues here.

“Well, I think that elections get back to, again, character and issues and they’re particular for that particular election,” Ricketts says. “So, I don’t think you can take one election and broaden it out and say that it’s going to have a bigger impact, because it gets back to who are the candidates?”

NSP Superintendent John Bolduc answers questions during a news conference at NSP headquarters.

Disciplinary measures have been taken against seven members of the Nebraska State Patrol at the conclusion of an internal investigation.

Investigations of the conduct of the patrol began after the Omaha World-Herald published articles on two incidents last year. In one, a trooper used a controversial maneuver to sideswipe a fleeing vehicle during a high-speed chase, causing the car to crash, killing the suspect. In another, a trooper struck a drunk suspect with a rifle butt.

One trooper has been fired. A Lt. Colonel took early retirement. A sergeant resigned.

Four others have been disciplined. A major has been busted to captain. A captain has been demoted to sergeant. One other trooper and another sergeant have been disciplined, but retain their rank.

The incidents took place while Col. Brad Rice was superintendent of NSP.

Superintendent John Bolduc declines to name the NSP members or detail the reasons for the discipline.

“Well, that would get to the conclusions that are contained within the case file and I’m prohibited by confidentiality; none of the employees involved have waived their confidentiality rights,” Bolduc tells reporters during a news conference at the Nebraska State Patrol headquarters in Lincoln.

Bolduc faces the cameras during the news conference.

Bolduc says NSP is reviewing policies in wake of the disciplinary actions, including how it conducts investigations.

Bolduc does worry about morale in wake of the investigation.

“There always are concerns about morale and something like this will cause a lot of concern, but we have to forge a path forward as an organization and focus on the future and focus on improving those things that we can,” Rice says.

Gov. Pete Ricketts fired Superintendent Brad Rice after an investigation by his administration found fault with his conduct during the use-of-force incidents.

State regulators have denied a request by TransCanada to amend its application to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline through Nebraska, setting up a likely showdown in the courts.

The Public Service Commission voted 5-0 against TransCanada.

Attorney Dave Domina, who represents landowners opposed to Keystone XL, says the vote makes the earlier PSC ruling that TransCanada could build along an alternative route vulnerable to a court challenge.

“TransCanada’s problem is that the Public Service Commission is not authorized to approve something the applicant doesn’t request,” Domina tells Nebraska Radio Network. “TransCanada knows that and knows that therefore it is stuck.”

TransCanada filed a motion with the PSC, asking permission to amend its application to conform with the PSC ruling. The PSC heard oral arguments on the motion December 12th.

Domina expects the issue to head to the courts with the likelihood of Keystone XL ever being built dropping dramatically.

“I think it is negligible,” Domina says. “When I saw what the commission had done today, and I thought they would do today, my immediate reaction was to say to my assistant, ‘That pipeline’s dead.’”

Not necessarily.

TransCanada spokeswoman Robynn Tysver tells Nebraska Radio Network in an email the company will take some time to review the PSC decision and determine the appropriate step, adding,

“Keystone XL remains a viable project with strong commercial support and we remain committed to this project. It is important to remember that this project continues to have widespread support of the U.S. and Canadian federal governments, as well as state officials in Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. President Trump and his administration continue to actively support Keystone XL and we expect to secure final federal permits in early 2018.”

Keystone XL is an $8 billion project. The southern portion of the pipeline is actually in operation from Oklahoma City to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast in Texas. TransCanada has received permission from President Trump to cross the United States/Canada border, but the company lacks a path through Nebraska.

TransCanada proposes building a 36-inch pipeline from Alberta, Canada to Steele City, Nebraska. It would carry crude oil made from the oil sands in western Canada.

“I couldn’t have voted for either of these people and if you don’t reject two bad choices, when you have only two bad choices, you won’t get better choices in the future,” Sasse tells Nebraska Radio Network.

Democrat Doug Jones upset Republican Roy Moore in the special election to fill former Senator turned Attorney General Jeff Session’s seat. Jones took 49.92% of the vote in the unofficial tally with Moore winning 48.38%.

Sasse, a Republican, says though he couldn’t support Moore, he didn’t see a good alternative in Jones.

“If you’re pro-life as I am, you looked at this race from the end of the primary and you said, every outcome here is going to make December 13th a pretty sad day,” Sasse says. “But, I think one of the things that’s interesting that happened is you saw a lot of voters saying no to both.”

The percentage of write-in ballots cast in the election edges close to 2%, greater than Jones’ margin of victory.

Sasse believes the outcome of the Alabama race illustrates a sobering fact: neither party has a vision of how to restore the rule of law, rebuild a civil society, create economic opportunity, or even how to engage in civil discourse.

“But I think the Republican brand is very, very toxic and there’s polling that shows that people under 30, only about 8% of them say they would ever consider voting for a Republican,” according to Sasse. “Well, as somebody who believes the conservative things I believe, I want to argue for and advocate for conservative policy positions, but in a way that isn’t polluted by all the nonsense of so much of what is happening in the national Republican Party and I think the biggest take away from Alabama is not that Doug Jones won, but that Roy Moore lost.”

The Jones’ win narrows the Republican majority in the Senate, now down to 51 Republicans and 49 Democrats.

Sasse says though he is a Republican, his party affiliation is not the most important identity he has.

“The most important identities I have are father and husband and Christian and neighbor and Husker football addict and conservative and American and somebody who takes an oath to the Constitution,” Sasse says. “I am a conservative, but I am a Republican with lots more asterisks around it, because this party needs to be more persuasive and winsome about what it stands for 10 years in the future. And, right now, the party’s not doing a good job of explaining that.”